The Wabash District #348 school board has again tabled a decision on whether or not to continue the pay to play program for district sports and band.
Pay to play was enacted a few years ago because of the district’s dire budget situation. While perhaps not at the same crisis level now, that financial crunch was the reason several board members brought up at Monday night’s school board meeting indicating that pay to play won’t be done away with this year.
Board President Tim Schuler and board members Teresa Hocking, Janice Alka, and Ryan Peter all said the first priority of the district is in the classroom. Peter said the district currently has just two days of operating cash on hand and taking on the additional expense of sports to the district’s budget might not be the wisest course of action.
Parents Todd and Dawn Drone and Tracie Guard addressed the board about the hardships the pay to play program has on parents including the burden of providing transportation of their players to the games.
If any changes come, the board acted like it could be in placing a cap on how much parents have to pay for all of one family’s kids in the district instead of individual schools as is the case now. The board requested more figures from district administration before making a final decision at next month’s meeting.
